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“This is a little bewildering, when they told me that’s all they could do,” James Bargsow, a former owner of Monhegan Boat Lines, said.

The driver is Cheryl Torgerson. Torgerson told police her gas pedal got stuck, sending her car into another vehicle, a building, and then a group of four pedestrians last August. One of those pedestrians, a 9-year-old boy from Massachusetts, was killed.

Torgerson’s car, however, showed no signs of a malfunction, Rushlau said, and her blood test came back negative for alcohol. She was not tested for drugs.

“Until you have evidence they are under the influence of drugs, you really can’t do anything,” Rushlau explained.

Rushlau said in the case of a traffic accident, state police do not have the capability to conduct blood test for drugs. If the person appears to be under the influence of a drug, a blood sample can be sent to a lab in Maryland for testing. But if the person appears normal, testing will not happen, Rushlau said.

“I think the DA had to come down, and say what he had to say and tell why he had to do it. The law runs in funny ways,” Barsgow said.

Rushlau said cases like this one are never really closed. The statute of limitations is six years and he said if anything new is discovered in this case, Torgerson could be charged.